New U.S. claims for jobless benefits last week dropped to
their lowest level in more than two years, while consumer
spending rose in October. [ID:nN24211131]

This helped drive Canadian financial stocks up 1.1 percent,
led by market heavyweight Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO, which
gained 1.8 percent to C$54.96, and National Bank of Canada
NA.TO, which climbed 2.1 percent to C$67.12.

"Even as Irish bonds are plunging, the concerns about the
whole Europe situation seem to have dissipated a little bit,
and there haven't been any remarkable development overnight in
terms of Korea," said Elvis Picardo, strategist at Global
Securities, in Vancouver.

The United States said on Wednesday it believe North
Korea's shelling of a South Korean island this week was an
isolated act tied to leadership changes in Pyongyang.
[ID:nL3I6MO04H]

Also giving the commodity-heavy Toronto market a boost was
a 1.3 percent rise in energy issues, as U.S. crude futures rose
about 3.6 percent.

Uranium miner and processor Cameco Corp CCO.TO jumped 4.4
percent to C$37.58 after it said it signed a long-term
agreement to supply uranium concentrate to China's state-owned
nuclear power company. [ID:nSGE6AN0DZ]

Among declining issues, Maple Leafs Foods MFI.TO fell 10
percent to C$11.41, after the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
said it would sell its 25 percent stake in the food processing
company. [ID:nN24209129]
(Reporting by Cameron French; editing by Rob Wilson)